Fox News "The Story with Martha MacCallum" - Transcript: Interview with Rep. Tulsi Gabbard

Interview

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MACCALLUM: The congresswoman from Hawaii joins me now. Those are obviously very strong words directed at the president, the commander in chief. Congresswoman Gabbard, do you -- do you stand by those?

GABBARD: Absolutely, I do. You know, Trump's intent was made very clear with that tweet. As a soldier, I took an oath, as well as, as a member of Congress. As a soldier, I took an oath to support and defend our Constitution. To protect and defend the American people.

Not the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, not, not any other foreign power. Now, if for some reason, that's not what Trump meant, then he should come out and say that's not what I meant and clarify it, but he hasn't done that. I think, what's --

(CROSSTALK)

MACCALLUM: Well, it seem -- it does seem like a rather literal interpretation, and I don't know. So, perhaps that is, is what he meant. But let's listen to what the Pentagon said today. Because I think that this might shed some light on sort of where that this is coming from. Watch this.

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JONATHAN HOFFMAN, ASSISTANT TO THE SECRETARY OF DEFENSE FOR PUBLIC AFFAIRS: We're going to allow the Saudis to make the declarations on where they believe the attacks came from and the ultimate responsibility.

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MACCALLUM: I mean, when I read it, that was more of the take that I had on it. That this is an ally, and I know that you don't agree that this is a good ally. But sometimes not all allies are perfect. It's obviously a very complicated relationship, but that because the attack was on them, there would be discussions about where it came from, and then, discussions about how we would respond. Not that we would take orders from Saudi Arabia about how we would respond.

GABBARD: Well, a couple of points here. First of all, I think Trump's tweet was very clear. And if he didn't mean what he said, then he should clarify and actually say what he means.

As president of the United States, you've got to be very careful about the words that you're using, because they carry a lot of impact.

Secondly, this is -- this is about something bigger than, you know, just a complex relationship with Saudi Arabia or having an ally who is not perfect. We're talking about a country that is continuing to, directly and indirectly, support al-Qaeda.

Now, we just observe the 18th anniversary of the day that al-Qaeda attacked us on 9/11. The day that, that evil visited our country killing thousands of Americans. So, I don't take lightly people who say, well, you know, Saudi Arabia, yes, they're not -- they're not that great, but you know, we need them.

Look, Saudi Arabia is continuing to support our enemy, al-Qaeda, in places like Yemen, and Syria. What to speak of what they're doing every year spending billions of dollars to propagate this extreme Wahhabi ideology that's fuelling terrorist groups like ISIS and al-Qaeda.

(CROSSTALK)

MACCALLUM: Yes, I mean, yes, there are a lot of people who agree with you and there are a lot of people who probably disagree with you. But also, you know, take your points to heart in terms of that explanation.

But there are also people who, you know, look back at the things that you have said in the past, and sort of see that there are kind of two camps in the Middle East. That you have, you know, that you have Iran and Syria with the backing of Russia.

And then you have the United States and Israel, and the Saudi and -- the Saudi Arabia and the UAE. So, they see you more in the camp that is on the side of Iran and Syria. And they question that Congresswoman Gabbard. What do you say to them?

GABBARD: Yes, they're wrong. They're wrong. I'm not in any of those -- any of those different camps. I am in one camp, and one camp alone it's -- and it's the camp of the United States of America and the American people. And I took an oath and I promised to be willing to put my life on the line to serve and protect our country. To protect the people of our country.

So, that is my sole focus. It has been and will continue to be. I think as we look at this situation --

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MACCALLUM: And we admire that and we thank you for your service. Absolutely. So, I guess, the next question is, what would you do?

GABBARD: Yes.

MACCALLUM: I mean, we've had enormous provocation from Iran. They have put explosives on tankers they've shot down a drone that was $130 million by some report. American drone, they've taken sailors into custody. So, what do you recommend?

GABBARD: Well, I think we've got to look at the situation for what it is. This, provocation as you put it did not just come from out of nowhere. It is a retaliation and it's a retaliation against the extreme sanctions that are on Iran.

That's basically making it impossible for them to sell their oil around the world. So, we've just got to be clear-eyed about what's really happening and how -- if we continue down this course, this path we are on.

I think you heard former Secretary Panetta allude to this that we will see a cycle of retaliation, tit-for-tat just continuing to go forward and escalate that can only lead to an all-out inferno.

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MACCALLUM: So, let the sanctions? I'm almost out of time. But what would you do with -- was the question.

GABBARD: As president, right now, what I would do is I would re-enter the Iran nuclear deal to prevent Iran from continuing to move forward and building a nuclear weapon. That puts us and the world further at risk.

And number two, yes. And those crippling sanctions.

(CROSSTALK)

MACCALLUM: OK. I mean, that's exactly what they want. Yes.

GABBARD: There's every day that we don't --

MACCALLUM: Yes.

GABBARD: Every day that we don't do this, every day we continue down this failed strategy, Iran gets closer and closer to a nuclear weapon. That's a fact.

MACCALLUM: OK. Congresswoman Gabbard, thank you very much. Always good to talk to you.

GABBARD: Thank you.

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